Worcester oil combi info needed please......................

[gilford]

My 20+ year old oil boiler is getting on now, and our need for heating and hot water is increasing!

We live on a 4 bed bungalow and currently have a "hot rod" hot water system to give you an idea of how bad the current set up is!

I want to change the system to a condensing combi one.

My choices are Worcester 18/25 or 25/32.

Does anyone have any views on either of these? Worcester UK have told me to go for the latter which would allow me to run a bath and shower at the same time, which sounds like heaven compared to what we have had to live with since moving in 3 years ago!

Any info appreciated

Cheers

 

[Terrywookfit]

Forget the Worcester and look at a Grant.

Who ever services it will thank you.

 

[transam]

yep same as above ( grant ) worc oil fired boilers forget em dire things to work on / maintain !!

 

[simond]

They are a pig to work on but that wasn't the question. I would love customers to buy what I like to work on but that isn't always the right answer for them.

They are at least as reliable as Grant. The customer service from Worcester is superb (sometimes SAME DAY).

And key installers have a 6 year parts and labour warranty to offer you at the moment too.

 

[Boilerman2]

DO NOT FIT A WORCESTER!!!!!

they are horrendous!! Grant would be a far better product

Worcester Service Engineers only look at the boiler they do not want to know about checking your oil tank during a service or freeing TRVs or bleeding rads, which are things us independant Service engineers do routinely usually within the cost of the service!

 

[muggles]

Go for a Worcester, we fit them all the time and get on very well with them. I wouldn't necessarily be looking at a combi for a four-bedroom place though, have you considered a regular boiler and unvented hot water cylinder setup as an alternative?

 

[moliver34]

Having worked on both makes; Worcester and Grant boilers.

Id recommend fitting a unvented cylinder with a condensing boiler.

At least that way you can have a cylinder with a twin coil if you decide to use solar panels to heat the water during the summer. Or in the event that the boiler stops working {breakdown or run out of oil} you can heat the water by an immersion element.

I agree Worcester are probably one of the worst boilers I have ever had to work on or install. But any Combi boiler is likely to have problems. I tend to steer clear of them; but do undertake warranty work for Grant boilers.

 

[transam]

You ill probably need a 6 year warranty on the worcestor , if you go for a worcestor go for a heat only boiler not a combi , u will than be able to fit an immersion heater for hot water , worc combi fit an electric shower
5 or 6 year warranty is probably ? not worth a bag of beans (may be ?)

 

[simond]

Worcester warranties are honoured and not quibbled.

I absolutely agree with the comments about what they are like to work on; the things are almost willfully designed to make everything difficult.

Whether or not the Worcester warranty at 6 yrs is worth anything will depend on whether the boiler goes wrong or not. Which is where the original question started.

If it does, and the owner has had it serviced annually by someone, Worcester's support is superb.

We fit both Worcester and Grant, and although the Grant product is much easier to work with, their support is not as good as Worcester. But no-one supports a customer like Worcester.

I will add here that I fit Vaillant, Viessmann, Worcester and Grant and I am not particularly wedded to Worcester, but I have always been impressed by their customer support, they are the best in our business at this.